The other interesting aspect of the stem-cell link is that it was inspired by work outside the mainstream of the huge cancer-research industry: stem-cell research is now a huge field in its own right.

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The first solid evidence implicating stem cells in cancer came in the early 1990s when John Dick, a stem cell researcher at the University of Toronto, developed a method for transplanting cancerous human bone marrow cells into mice.

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The upshot of all this is that the stem-cell hypothesis of cancer growth looks a good one.

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That is embarrassing for breast-cancer activists, who have campaigned hard for autologous stem-cell support to be made more widely available.

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Already as an undergraduate, Ivan did stem-cell research that could lead to new cancer treatments.

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They believe a single type of cell may be cancer's main growth engine:mutant stem cells that, though barely present, spawn other cells that then spark growth.

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As a pediatric oncologist and stem cell transplant specialist, his area of focus was initially cancer research, but he saw a challenge -- and an unmet need -- in rare diseases like EB.

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Like many of the numbers being tossed about in the stem-cell debate, this count is inflated by emotion: Langevin included all patients suffering from cancer, juvenile diabetes, heart disease and even arthritis as potential beneficiaries of the research.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNN) -- In her first public speech since announcing last Thursday that her breast cancer had returned, Elizabeth Edwards appealed Monday for more federal funding for health research of all kinds, including stem-cell research.

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